HISTORY OF THE DOMAIN

The Piaugier Domain is situated in and around the village of SABLET which stands proudly at the feet of the famous "Dentelles of Montmirail" in the valley of the Rhône, the Department of the Vaucluse, and northern Provence.
Jean-Marc AUTRAN, son, grandson and great-grandson of wine growers, owner of the Domain, produced his first wine in 1985 in the cellars built by his great grandfather, Alphonse Vautour, in 1947. Alphonse, at the end of his life, during which he had made all his wine in the family's original cave (cellars), "Ténébi", on the slopes of the "Briguières" hill, decided to build the present cave on the side of the road, leading up to the "Ténébi".
Supported by his father, Jean-Marc increased the size of the Domain and developped the sale of bottled wine. The cave having become too small he enlarged in 1995.

THE LAND AND THE GRAPES

With his wife Sophie, Jean-Marc now cultivates 30 hectares of vines as follows : 3,5 hectares of the famous Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée GIGONDAS ; 12,5 hectares of the well-known A.O.C. SABLET and 14 hectares A.O.C. Côtes du Rhône.
The Domain has two great advantages. The first being that it is composed of a large number of small plots and therefore of various different soils and situations : sand-flint-clay silt ; flint-clay chalk; and soil with sand and gravel.
The second advantage is the age of the vines ; being between 20 and forty-five years old they are in their full, rich, plentiful prime.
The grapes, the average yield of which is about 40 hectolitres per hectare, are picked entirely by hand, and pressed and made into wine plot by plot which safeguards their distinct and separate characteristics. The dominant grape is the traditional Grenache. Others are the Syrah, the Counoise, the Cinsaut and the Carignan, each planted with a density of 4.000 plants per hectare. The pruning is always true to the traditional "royat" or "gobelets" methods.

THE WINEMAKING

The Domaine began to de-stemm  the grapes with the 2006's vintage. The fermentation longs 4 weeks and the fermentation temperatures are strictly controlled at 28/33 degrees.
The  Gigondas is matured for 70% in concrete vats and for 30% in new oak barrels and 1 and 2 wines barrel for two winters.
The bottling is done once only and the wine is not subjected to any filtering.